Lise turned the key in her front door and opened it with extra care to be quiet. After shedding her coat, she peeked into the living room on a hunch, and sure enough, there was John asleep on the sofa.

"Hey," Lise whispered gently to him, nudging him awake with a touch to his shoulder.

"Hey," John said wearily. "What time is it?" Rubbing his eyes, he placed the reading glasses and book from lap on the coffee table as he sat up from his previously slumped position on the couch.

"Gone two," Lise told him, smiling warmly as she stood over him.

He nodded, raising himself off the sofa with a groan. "I tried to wait up, I must've fallen asleep."

"I told you to go to bed," she shook her head, but recognised that deep down she knew he would never heed the words she'd told him as she hurried to work after a surprise phone call.

"How was it?" John asked, as they walked upstairs and entered the bedroom together.

"Surprising," Lise told him, stripping off her clothes and changing into one of his old t-shirts. "He just kept confessing more and more; and the best thing is, he says he's going to plead guilty, so the victims won't have to give evidence in court."

"That's good," John said - through a mouth full of both toothpaste and a brush - as he poked his head into the bedroom from the ensuite.

Once he'd finished, Lise took her turn in the bathroom, quickly washing her face and swilling with mouthwash in lieu of toothpaste for the sake of brevity.

"You look tired," he told her with concern as she re-entered the bedroom, finding him changed, sitting up in bed and reaching to his bedside table and plugging in his phone to charge.

"I am," she agreed, sliding under the covers and flicking her bedside lamp off in synchronisation with John. They hunkered down together in a familiar way, his arms wrapped around her as her head found a comfortable position on his chest, and Lise hummed with contentment. "I'm glad you're here," she whispered into the darkness, thinking of how she'd grown to hate sleeping alone when he wasn't there, missing the communication and comfort only John could provide after a tough shift at work. Her eyes closed as she nestled her head into the crook of his neck.

"Me too," he whispered as he brushed his lips to her forehead, closing his eyes and soaking in the closeness.

John's visits to Toronto had become more and more frequent. Any hesitantance he'd had at the start of their relationship about how he might fit into her life had melted away when Lise had clarified what she hoped they could have together, and they'd fallen into an easy routine.

His trips were mostly on weekends, but they had had some full weeks together, and John had felt happier and more relaxed than he had in years. They'd spent some time together with Kelly too, who was more than supportive of them as a couple.

As far as the rest of John's life was going, the cottage had been finished for a few months now, and while he had reclaimed his things out of storage and taken them there, he was still staying at his sparse apartment when he wasn't with Lise. He had yet to attempt moving, or to actually unpack anything and begin to make the cottage feel in any way like home.

Sitting at the breakfast table the next morning, it dawned on him that maybe the reason he hadn't made the cottage feel like home was because he already had one, here with Lise. He liked her coming home to him at night and them sharing a nighttime routine together. He liked falling asleep with Lise and waking up with her in the morning. He liked making breakfast for them both and sharing easy conversation over the table as he scanned the newspaper. He already felt at home exactly where he was.

"I've been thinking…" he started, and she looked up at him curiously. "I've been thinking that erm," he swallowed, "that it's time for me to retire."

She nodded. "OK."

"There's nothing left for me up there. Kelly is here, you're here. And work, it's...it's not the same." He stared at her, pulling focus to the reason work wasn't what it was without saying it. "I've still got the cottage up there for trips, but...I think it's time for me to move on. I think it's time for my life to move on."

"OK," Lise smiled easily, completely unphased by the huge life change he was telling her he was ready to make. "If that's what you want, you should do it."

"Don't worry," John added hastily, "I'll get my own place. I'll be nearer Kelly and-"

"Don't," she said quickly, cutting off the rest of his planned sentence.

"Don't?" John's brow creased. "What do you…?"

Lise shook her head. "Don't get your own place."

Fearing he'd misread her reaction, he frowned and attempted to hide how wounded he felt. "I thought..."

"Stay with me," Lise said, getting her words out all at once before she took a deep breath. "Move in here, with me."

John blinked, a look of amazement on his face. "You're serious?"

Lise nodded firmly. "Yes."

"Isn't it...too soon?"

"I'm done waiting." She considered her next words for a moment. "I want to be with you."

John smiled, relieved her feelings for him were as strong as his for her. "Yeah, me too."

"Right, so that's it then, you'll move in with me."

He nodded steadily. "Right."

The joy of the moment overtook Lise, who broke into a big smile, and in turn infected John with the same kind of giddiness. Spontaneously, he lent across the breakfast table and kissed her. She was quick to respond, standing and moving to sit in his lap, her arms wrapping around his neck before her fingers wove into the hair at the nape of his neck.

"I think I'm gonna like living with you," she whispered after they broke the kiss, her mouth still inches from his.

"I think I will too," John smiled broadly in return, going in for another welcome kiss.


Two months after John had accepted Lise's invitation to move in, he had finally finished the remainder of his time left working at Algonquin Bay and made the move down to Toronto. It was not long after this point Lise came to a reluctant realisation: as much as she hated to admit it, she loved the sense of security that came with him now they finally lived together full time.

One of the many things she loved about him, she realised, was how safe he made her feel. It took a lot for her to accept the fact, fiercely independent as she was, she fought against the feeling - but she could deny it to herself no longer - it was like her whole body gave a sigh of relief when he was around. Whether it was his strong presence walking beside her or the comfort of his arms wrapped around her, she felt completely secure when she was with him. When she made the admission to herself, she also acknowledged another question that had been itching at the back of her mind.

They had been sitting one evening, as they usually did, Lise stretched out on the sofa watching TV, her head resting in John's lap as he read, his book in one hand whilst the other stroked her hair lazily. During a commercial break, she decided to finally venture what she'd been wondering for a while.

"Did you ever think about me?" She checked to see that John had heard her and saw him put his book down and cast his gaze to hers. "About...us?" Lise didn't need to elaborate, she could tell by the look on his face that he knew exactly what she meant.

John swallowed deliberately before answering. "I wasn't blind. I was sceptical when you first came to homicide, you were inexperienced but you...you won me over quickly." His lips twitched into a smile, before his face turned more serious. "Even when I found out you were investigating me...I…" he closed his eyes and shook his head, "I found it easy to forgive you." His expression lightening, he continued: "I thought you were intelligent and...beautiful," he smiled softly as images of Lise from when they first met flooded his brain, before his expression once again turned solemn. "But I...I wouldn't let myself think of you in that way. I couldn't let myself think of you in that way." He shook his head again. "I loved Catherine, no matter what she was going through. I was a married man, and that promise of in sickness and health, it...it meant something to me."

Lise gave him a melancholic smile. Tears pricking at the back of her eyes took her by surprise, and she quickly rubbed them away with the back of her hand. "I thought you hated me when I first met you," she laughed, trying to lighten the mood, "but I still thought you were a brilliant cop, and…" she said, her eyes closing and crinkling as she tried to find the right word, "pragmatic," she finally said, and her eyes opened and danced with light as they fixed on John's warm gaze. "And I liked that. I still like that."

It was John's turn to ask the question now. "Did you ever...think of me, in that way? What we are now."

"I should say no, but…" Lise paused before answering, a little embarrassed over her next confession."I thought you were...handsome," she finally said, blushing slightly and shaking her head. "And," she continued more seriously, "when my relationship with Josh was falling apart I let myself...fantasise from time to time, how things might have been different with someone else. How they might've been different with you. But I never thought it would actually happen; that seemed insane, especially before Catherine…" she trailed off, not wanting to bring a reminder of such a terrible memory into that conversation.

Lise looked up and saw a flash of sadness on John's face, but it was quickly replaced with a look of adoration as his eyes locked with hers. He pressed his lips to hers tenderly. "I love you," he whispered when he pulled back, caressing her cheek with his thumb.

"I love you too," she said with a smile, her accent thicker as happened when she was truly relaxed.